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SLAVERY. 



On this subject I have read, with much interest, a very able corres- 
pondence between the Rev. R. Fuller and Dr. Wayland, in which it 
is admitted, that slavery did exist among the Jews, and was regulated 
by scriptural authority under the old dispensation ; that it was uni- 
versal at the christian era, and that some of the primitive dis- 
ciples held slaves ; that slaves were then exhorted to be contenj^d 
in their situation, and that all men were admonished to yield^b^ 
dience to the laws ; for rulers were said not to be a terrM^o good 
works, but to evil. From these authorities, without further in- 
quiry, I am able to say, that if a christian man is held in slavery 
by authority of the municipal law of the country in which he re- 
sides, his duty is to be contented with his situation, and to yield 
implicit obedience to those laws. A christian slave cannot flee 
from his master's service, nor can a disciple of Christ excite slaves 
to rebellion, or aid, abet, or assist them to escape from such 
service. And all this is equally true, whether slavery be sin- 
ful or not. If, by his act, the slave-holder commits a breach of 
the moral principles of the gospel, it is nevertheless the duty of the 
christian slave to submit to the requirements of the municipal 
law. The exhortation, therefore, to the slave to be contented with 
his situation, does not prove that slavery is consistent with the 
moral principles of the gospel. Nor does the existence and regu- 
lation of slavery under the old dispensation, prove it to have been 
consistent with those principles. If the Patriarch Abraham was 
now living, he could not be admitted to a christian communion 
table. We account a planter, who has illicit connection with his 
bond-women or slaves, to be a man of bad moral character ; but 
I thiakj even under that dark dispensation, the true light did 






occasionally appear. The Prophet Isaiah, uudoubtedly had re- 
ference to slavery in the 58th chaj)ter, 6th verse, of his book, in 
which he says, " Is not this fast that I have chosen to loose the 
bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke." Slavery, in 
its origin, is effected, or brought about by means wholly incon- 
sistent with the great moral principles of the gospel. A slave is 
always made sach by war and carnage. Mr. Fuller will no doubt 
admit, that the christian man could never have been concerned in 
the original reduction of any free man to a state of slavery ; this 
must have been effected by wicked men. 

It is not said in the Holy Scriptures in so many words, that 
slavery is or is not a sin against God. I am, nevertheless, satisfied 
that it is wholly irreconcilable with the spirit of the gospel, and that 
the argument of Dr. Wayland, going to show that the Scriptures 
generally teach by moral principles in place of special precepts, is 
undoubtedly sound ; that if the latter method had been pursued, 
and every species of sin that mortals can commit, had been par- 
ticularized, and singly and specially prohibited, that no library 
would have been large enough to have contained the books in 
which all those precepts should have been written. If, therefore, 
it be admitted, that slavery cannot be reconciled with the great 
principles of the gospel, and that it is not expressly declared to be 
harmless, the result is, that a christian man cannot, unless labor- 
ing under peculiar circumstances, hold slaves. This position 
brings me to the principal questions that I intend to consider. 

1st. Whether a christian man can, under any circumstances, 
hold slaves ; and 

2d. Whether abolition ought to be immediate or gradual. 

1 entertain no doubt whatever but that a practical Christian can 
hold slaves. Suppose he is born and brought up in a slave State, 
and inherits a plantation with the slaves upon it ; that he treats 
them with christian kindness and affection ; that he gives them 
proper religious instruction, and that it is either unlawful or inex- 
pedient to manumit them — all of which certainly does occur. I 
consider, under such circumstances, that he is acquitted of 
the guilt of slavery, although I admit that slavery in the abstract 
is sinful. But I believe that the intelligent christian slave- 
holder will, nevertheless, be constantly impressed with the idea, 
that slavery is inconsistent with the moral principles of the gospel, 
and will exert himaelf to bring about general emancipation. 



*^ And I am inclined to think also, that if slave-holders generally 
were obliged to treat their slaves as a christian man feels bound 
to treat his, that slavery would become unprofitable, and be 
abandoned. 

In respect to immediate emancipation in the Southern 
States, I am decidedly opposed to it. 

I hold that a christian man may not only hold slaves under 
certain circumstances, but that it would be morally wrong in 
him to manumit them. I suppose that both the slave and the 
master, require preparation for general emancipation, and that 
if it should take place without that preparation, that it would 
endanger the peace and welfare of the State. The slaves are 
now uneducated and not properly instructed in gospel principles, 
and to manumit them in this condition would greatly endanger 
the peace of the State, and would require a standing army, as 
in the British dominions, to keep them in subjection. I have my- 
self spent a winter in the West India Islands, and I am satisfied 
that our English friends have committed a serious error in imme- 
diate emancipation. A large portion of the slaves are idle, shiftless 
members of society; begging is a common profession ; they work 
when they please, and many of them for much of the time remain 
idle. The Danish government have lately caused large school- 
houses to be erected in their Islands for the education of slaves, 
and a portion of the week is by law allotted to them to attend 
school. That government is no doubt preparing for gradual eman- 
cipation, and is endeavoring to steer clear of the error committed by 
our English friends. The consequence of immediate emancipa- 
tion in the English dominions is likely in time to destroy the very 
people it was intended to benefit. And it is to be apprehended that 
the same consequences would now result from a like measure, 
in some of the Southern States. 

I understand both of the talented disputants to admit, that if 
the fact be established that slavery is contrary to the doctrines of 
the gospel, that then immediate emancipation should take place, 
whatever may be the consequences — it is this position mainly that 
the writer intends to combat. It will be admitted that St. Paul 
knew whether slavery was or was not sinful — if he knew it to 
be sinful and did not exhort the primitive disciples to immedi- 
ate emancipation, he would, if this position be correct, have failed 
in an important duty. 



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I verily believe he knew it to conflict with the principles of the 
gospel, but that he foresaw that manumission ought to be brought 
about hy the operation of those principles upon the heart, and 
not by special precept or command ; special precept or command 
might in such case have operated upon the disciples only, and 
partial abolition have endangered the state ; or there might have 
been a law of the state prohibiting it. One article of the deca- 
logue is, " Thou shalt not kill." Now suppose it probable that, 
by immediate emancipation in the State of South Carolina, 
where the black population greatly exceeds the white, that a ge- 
neral massacre might take place, would emancipation, with such 
an apprehension, be an immediate duty, whatever might be the 
consequences? The legislature of that state have apprehended 
that such might be the consequences of manumission, and they 
have accordingly passed laws regulating it. The act of manu- 
mission, therefore, which gentlemen say ought to take place 
immediately, might, and probably would, lead in its consequences 
to a breach of the law of God, in the violation of one of the most 
important articles of the decalogue. 

It is admitted that there can be no excuse for not performing 
any of the expressed commands of the Almighty, as contained in 
the decalogue. 

The performance of any of these commands will not endanger 
the state of society ; but by the act of manumission, which these 
gentlemen suppose to be an immediate duty, the state may be en- 
dangered. And from this very probable consequence, these gentle- 
men are called upon to consider, whether there is not a manifest 
difference between the performance of a law of God, or the con- 
formity to a principle of the gospel, as to the time and manner of 
such compliance 1 In other words, is there not a harmony in the 
operation of the blessed principles of the gospel, which deserves to 
be considered by the disciples of Christ. We are commanded to 
be obedient to the law of the land ; but if, by immediate emanci- 
pation, we commit a breach of that law, ought we not to pause 
before we disobey this inculcation 1 We are commanded not to 
kill ; but if, in consequence of emancipation, thousands are killed, 
ought the disciple of Christ to manumit, notwithstanding the 
consequences'? It will be found on examination, that whatever 
God has expressly enjoined upon his people, (as in the articles 
of the decalogue,) does not conflict at all with the safety of a 
state ; but what is left to be worked out by the principles of the 



blessed gospel, can only, in many instances, be brought about 
with safety to the body politic, by the operation of these principles 
upon the heart. Both the slave and the master are properly pre- 
pared for a change from slavery to freedom by the benign prin- 
ciples of the gospel. 

The State of South Carolina at the last census, in 1830, had a 
free vi'hite population of 258,000 souls, a free black population 
of 8,000, and a slave population of 315,000 — making in all 
323,000 blacks to 258,000 whites. 

This slave population is now much greater, and is continually 
increasing. Any one can foresee, that such a state of things can- 
not continue very long. The State will be surcharged, and a 
ruinous condition of things must be the consequence. If Texas 
should be annexed to the United States, it might afford a market 
for their slaves. It is believed that the apprehensions of slave- 
holders are sufficiently awake to this subject to lead them to an 
alienation of this description of property, and that the slaves of 
the Southern States would, in that case, be principally transferred 
to Texas. Even if immediate emancipation was deemed advisa- 
ble, we have not the same means which the British Government 
had to effect it. They paid to the planters one hundred millions 
of dollars for their slaves. There is no government here that has 
the means to pay for slaves. The slave States themselves are 
poor, and in the providence of God, they always will be poor ; for 
slavery impoverishes a nation. It is with States as with individu- 
als, " He that commits sin swallows poison, which from that 
moment begins to operate." 

Suppose that Dr. Wayland's views should prevail, and a law of 
South Carolina be passed for immediate emancipation, what would 
be the consequence 1 Most of the planters would be reduced to 
poverty. The slave population greatly outnumbers the free, and 
in its present condition, being ignorant and without a proper sense 
of moral principles, would probably take vengeance on their former 
masters, and a state of anarchy and bloodshed of a shocking 
character might ensue. I appeal to Dr. Wayland, whether he 
could contemplate such a change in the affairs of South Carolina 
with complacency 1 I am sure he could not. That a crazy abo- 
litionist might rejoice in it, is not improbable, but that the rational 
christian would every where mourn over it, is quite certain. 

The present predicament of some of our slave-holding States, 
requires for their alleviation wise, moderate and christian mea- 



6 

sures. And I suggest to Dr. Wayland, whether the most eflSca- 
cious means now to be employed is not the preaching the gospel 1 
Neither the slave nor the master are prepared for immediate 
emancipation. The instruction of the slave in moral and religious 
principles should be the first object, after which the State might 
commence with laws for gradual emancipation. I hope our 
Southern brethren will not allow themselves to be excited by the 
denunciations of abolitionists. I believe wise, good and discreet 
men at the North, are unanimously opposed to the conduct of 
those individuals. Abolition is desirable, but the means of eflfect- 
ing it require great wisdom, patience and forbearance. 

JAMES SMITH, 

Counsellor at Lazo, New-York. 



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